Wednesday, October 18, 2006 Fiel top seed in Shell finals
THREE Cebuanos will trade moves in the 2006 Shell National Active Chess Championships on Saturday at the SM City North Edsa in Manila.
Gabriel Ortiz of the University of Cebu (UC) and Vernancio Loyola of Rodrigo Duterte Memorial National High School (RDMNHS) will strive for a titular finish in their first attempt in the Shell finals.
Ortiz and Loyola both qualified in the Cebu Leg regional eliminations in the 20-under juniors division last August.
Thirteen-year-old Yves Christian Fiel of the University of San Jose-Recoletos will be seeded first in the 14-under kiddies division.
Kim Steven Yap and Zelberstein Torres, last year's Cebu Leg finalists in the junior division, will be out of the picture after failing to qualify in the regional legs.
Yap and Torres faltered both in the Cebu and the Iloilo regional legs.
Third try
For his third attempt in the national finals, Fiel is hoping for a titular finish this time, having grasped lessons from his previous attempts in the kiddies division.
Fiel still has one more year before he graduates in his division.
His father Piercival, however, hopes that Yves would pull the title this year, so he can accelerate to the juniors division next year.
Ives Christian had undergone rigid training this time around from participating in open tournaments to extensive opening research in the chess software.
Pilipinas Shell will shoulder the qualifiers’ travel, billeting and meal expenses.
The junior champion will receive P30,000, while the kiddies champion will have P20,000. (JAF)
